Plattegrond van een verdieping c. 1864

Willem Springer Jr. created this floorplan in the nineteenth century using graphite and colored pencil on paper. While we may not think of a simple drawing as a particularly labor-intensive object, let’s consider the amount of invisible work embedded in this piece. Springer engaged with traditions of technical drawing, likely honed through years of training. This expertise allowed him to draft the built environment with a precision that’s easy to overlook. The graphite pencil itself represents an ingenuity: refined graphite, carefully milled and shaped, and fitted into a wooden surround. The paper, too, a now ubiquitous material made through mechanised pulping, bleaching, and calendaring. This drawing invites us to reflect on the value of planning in the built environment, and how its appearance reflects the industrial processes, labor, and systems of knowledge involved in its making. By appreciating these elements, we expand our understanding of the complex networks behind even the simplest of images.